
5 




) 




r7/^ Ti pi 

'- ' ' IZ <^i .\'f\ ^r\ I w, •*- p \ 
' I 



MoRRiSTOWN, N. J., June 9th, 1880. 
General James McQiiade and Members of The Associatio7i of Thi 

Fifth Artny Corps. 

Gentlemen : — From the fullness of my heart I thank you for 
the memorable honor you have conferred upon me by your nu- 
merous appeals to our Government in my behalf — appeals 
couched in terms of personal kindness peculiarly grateful to me. 

Your devotion and faith in my innocence and that of my old 
comrades of the Army of the Potomac, have been as lamps to 
my path in the dark hours of my adversity. In December, 1862, 
I stood before the highest military tribunal known to our laws, 
consciously innocent under the charges against my patriotism, 
my activity in the field, and my honor, which that court was 
then trying. 

To the astonishment of myself and of able jurists .watching the 
trial, that court in January, 1863, found me guilty of the offences 
charged and the sentence merely dismissed me from the army 
and incapacitated me from holding office of trust or profit un- 
der the Government of the United States. 

Had I been guilty of the crimes charged, the judgment of my 
command, of the whole army and of all true men would have 
been, that my life should be the forfeit. 

Aware of the disparity between the severity of the findings and 
the feebleness of the sentence, the Judge-Advocate General wrote 
and annoymously circulated a pamphlet saying in attempted pal- 
liation : 

"The wonder of military men who understood the atrocity of 
Porter's offence in all its bearings, is not that he was condemned, 
but that his life was spared. The court martial might well have 
sentenced him to death and they forbore to do so, in all proba- 
bility, only because they felt that as a walking blasted monument 
of treachery to his country's flag, he would be a warning to 
others more effective than any voice which could issue from his 
dishonored but perhaps forgotten grave." 

Yet " the wonder of military men '' was not that my " life was 
spared " but that I "was condemned." 

Those dead soldiers whom we all love and honor — Reynolds 



£=4-73 

and Sumner, and Hooker, and Sedgwick, and Thomas, and An- 
derson, and Griffin, and Barnes, and Heintzleman, and Wads- 
worth, and Sykes, refused to regard me " as a walking blasted 
monument of treachery," refused to turn their backs upon me as 
a guilty man, but continued my firm friends and my associates 
through life. 

One of them, an actor in all the events upon which the charges 
against me were based, an unflinching commander, a stern patiiot 
and true friend, General George Sykes. just after hearing read 
Senator Logan's minority report in the Fitz-John Porter case, 
declared on his death bed, " I hope God in his infinite goodness 
will vouchsafe to Porter the justice he deserves ; he is an inno- 
cent man." 

During my trial I was warned by well informed friends not to 
be too confident of the result because of my innocence as no 
matter what the facts were my conviction was determined upon. 

It was then intimated and has since been asserted to me, that 
there then existed on the part of the Government a fear that the 
control of the Army of the Potomac would pass out of the hands 
of the administration and the necessity existed of demonstrating 
the power of the Government and re-establishing discipline by 
striking down some one with it high in rank and influence. 

It was my misfortune to be selected as the victim. 

My accuser has, besides other comforts, been consoled 
with the assurance " that no one has been heard to reflect upon 
him or his action in the matter which all admit to have been 
necessary at the time." 

How groundless were these fears, thus alleged to have prompt- 
ed my trial, it is needless to say to the Army of the Potomac 
which knows how firm was its own loyalty. 

The Court Martial terminated my duty as a soldier in January, 
1863. My duty as a citizen then began and in its performance I 
bore the sentence — severe because of the social and political os- 
tracism it involved, and all the more severe because undeserved. 

I felt that if my country demanded of me a sacrifice greater 
than that of my life offered on many a bloody field, I would en- 
dure it with the steadfast faith, that when the passions of the 
hour to which I had been sacrificed should have been calmedi 
my character as a soldier and a patriot would be vindicated. 

I ever solemnly protested against the judgment which depriv- 
ed me of my right to draw my sword at all times in defense of 
our country. 

And I asked all lovers of truth and justice to dispassionately 






examine the records of my court martial and impartially decide 
for themselves whether I was justly condemned. 
M. It was not in the cause of one man but in the broad cause of 

^^ justice which lies at the base of all true liberty in which I 
1^ sought to enlist all fair minded men. 

My first personal and public appeal for a rehearing of my case 
? was made thirteen years ago. 

d^ So convinced of the justice of my claim was the soldier then 

highest in command in the army and since twice honored with 
the highest trust in the nation's gift, that he said of me, "not only 
ought he to have the rehearing but every member of the Court 
which sentenced him should be glad to have the opportu- 
nity to join in the appeal," and also if "injustice has been done 
by the finding of the Court resulting in a severe sentence dam- 
aging him professionally and otherwise, every opportunity which 
the law allows should be given to exculpate himself." 

But the protest of my accuser and other influences prevailed 
and I could get no rehearing. 

Year after year mj'^ appeal was renewed in various ways. It was 
neither granted nor denied till in 1878 the President ordered a 
rehearing before a Board selected by the General of the Arm5^ 

Generals Schofield, Terry and Getty were selected to compose 
that Board. Successful soldiers, honored and trusted by all, who 
knowing by experience greater responsibilities than mine, I felt, 
would calmly weigh my actions and judge me austerely but 
justly. 

An examination of the testimony taken before the court mar- 
tial and other documents had satisfied two of my counsel that 
their previous belief in the rightfulness of the findings based 
upon newspaper reports was erroneous, and they all three en- 
tered at once with me upon the new trial. They all felt satisfied 
that the record of the court martial did not warrant the finding, 
and with this sentiment coincided the freely expressed opinion of 
many of the most eminent jurists of the land. 

With the earnestness resulting from this conviction of the in- 
justice done to me and through me to the Fifth Army Corps, 
these gentlemen labored to lay before the Board, and through 
them before the President and people, the facts of my case as 
they believed them and as most of you know them. 

Though I had reason to believe that members of this Board 
entered upon the investigation thinking me guilty and perhaps 
intensely prejudiced against me, I had no fear of the result. 

The Board composed of patient, diligent men, would in an 



earnest, dispassionate manner, sift all the charges and all the 
facts till they found the truth, and I knew the truth — that I was 
innocent. 

All turmoil and hurry had ceased. The hour for calm reflec- 
tion had come, that of passion h?d fled. 

The facts were submitted to the Board durinj:^a most searching 
and thorough examination of every witness that could be 
brought before it, both for and against me. 

One of the charges which was withdrawn, but which still 
stands on the record and which I was not allowed to disprove 
before my court martial, was a direct attack upon my command 
as well as myself. It was in eff'ect as tollows : that on the lield 
of the Second Manassas, Aug. 30th, 1S62, I did so feebly fall 
upon the enemy's lines as to make little or no impression on the 
same and did fall back and draw away my forces immediately. 

This charge was reiterated in the report of the general com- 
manding the Army of Virginia. 

Its utter falsity was completely established before the late 
Board, the vigor of the attack by my brave command being 
shown by the loss of more than one third of the corps then on the 
field, or over two thousand men, killed, wounded and missing. 

The Board reported, as they themselves say " with entire unani- 
mity, and without doubt in our own minds, with the reasons for 
our conclusions, what action in our opinion justice requires 
should be taken by the President on the petitioner's application 
for relief." 

As to the action of the gallant 5th corps on the 30th their 
glowing words forever dispel the stain cast upon it. 

"As Longstreet's Army pressed forward to strike Pope's ex- 
posed left wing and flank, Warren, with his little brigade sprung 
into the gap and breasted the storm until but a handful of his 
brave men were left alive ; then Sykes with his disciplined bri- 
gades, and Reynolds with his gallant Pennsylvania Reserves, 
seized the commanding ground in rear, and, like a rock, withstood 
the advance of the victorious enemy and saved the Union Army 
from rout." 

*' Thus did this gallant corps nobly and amply vindicate the 
character of their trusted chief, and demonstrate to all the world 
that 'disobedience of orders ' and ' misbehaviour in the presence 
of the enemy ' are crimes which could not pjssibly find place in 
the head or heart of him who thus commanded that corps." 

"These events of the 30th of August were excluded from the 
evidence before the court martial that tried General Porter ; but 



5 

justice requires that they should be mentioned here as having an 
important bearing upon the question of animus which was so 
strongly dwelt upon in the review of Porter's case by the Judge 
Advocate General." 

They reported for August 29th, '62— the day on which mj' acts 
were condemned by the Court, as follows : 

" Porter's faithful subordinate and intelligent conduct that af- 
ternoon saved the union army from the defeat which would oth- 
erwise have resulted that day from the enemy's more speedy con- 
centration. The only serious criticar period of that campaign, 
viz : between 11 A. M. and sunset August 29th, was thus safely 
passed. Porter had understood and appreciated the military sit- 
uation and so far as he had acted upon his own judgment, his ac- 
tion had been wise and judicious. For the disasters of the suc- 
ceeding day he was in no degree responsible. Whoever else may 
have been responsible, it did not flow from any action or inaction 
of his. * * * * 

" We believe not one among all the gallant soldiers on that 
bloody field was less deserving of such condemnation than he." 

The Board recommended. 

" That justice required at the hands of the President such ac- 
tion as may be necessary to annul and set aside the findings 
and sentence of the court martial in the case of Major General 
Fitz John Porter, and to restore him to the positions of which 
that sentence deprived him." 

The highest confidence was felt in the judgment, decision and 
recommendation of that Board. The press was unanimous in 
commendation of its members when first announced — and with 
few exceptions was as unanimous in accepting their finding as 
conclusive. 

The General who selected them has said " they were officers 
than whom three better do not exist in the army." "I believe I 
will accept as conclusive the action of this court of honor — com- 
posed as it is of such officers as Schofield, Terry and Getty." 

The President who appointed the Board " to report, with the 
reasons for their conclusion, what action, if any, in their opinion, 
justice requires should be taken by him ;" indorsed their recom- 
mendation as follows: 

" I have given to this report such examination as satisfies me 
that I ought to lay the proceedings and conclusions of the Board 
before Congress. 

"As I am without power in the absence of legislation to act 
upon the recommendation of the report further than by submit- 



ting the same to Congress, the proceedings and conclusions of 
the Board are transmitted for the information of Congress, and 
such action as in j'our wisdom shaU seem expedient and just." 

Your appeal of last year asking in the name of truth and jus- 
tice — as due to the 5th Corps, to the Army of the Potomac, to 
the army of the United States and to the country— prompt rati- 
fication of the recommendation of the Board has been laid before 
the President and Congress. 

The militar)'' committees of both the Senate and the House of 
Representatives have recommended the passage of bills intro- 
duced to carry out the recommendation of the Board and to do 
full justice in the case. 

But opposition organized for personal and political motives to 
resist all action leading to complete vindication, by forcing the 
matter into the political arena and striving to unite a political 
party on their side, has arrested progress, and, at the solicitation of 
my friends of both political parties, further consideration by 
Congress is delayed till the next session. 

A speech was adopted and delivered in the Senate of the United 
States, presenting only the views of the prosecution and pervert- 
ing the facts. At the instigation of him who delivered it, the 
speech is to be circulated as a campaign document and army 
organizations of which many of you are members, have been 
called upon, though in violation of their regulations, to aid in 
its circulation, while arrangements are being made to furnish 
the State central committees of one part}' with the speech ar- 
ranged for their speakers to use in the ensuing political cam- 
paign. 

The report of this Board of officers of high standing is a full 
moral vindication of the rectitude and propriety of my acts, and 
of the integrity of my command and of those who have held up 
my hands and heart these long years, and it is so accepted by all 
soldiers not influenced by personal or political bias. But the 
complete vindication due to me, to you, and the country can 
only come from the action of Congress and of the President 
carrying out the recommendation of the Board. 

Ten years ago I was, as now, harshly and unjustly assailed on 
the floor of the Senate, and in reply used the following words, 
applicable now as well as then, which you will pardon me for 
repeating: 

"Sustained as I am by hosts of friends whose hands and 
words and pens are active in my behalf; sustained by the old and 
true and tried friends who have not turned upon me in my ad 



versity, but best sustained by my ever present and never lailing 
faith, that a just and generous people will not permit my wrongs 
to go unredressed, I shall go on to the end. obtaining my justi- 
fication from the Government which owes it to me or leav- 
ing it, if God wills, a legacy for my children to demand and 
obtain." 

Again declaring my grateful appreciation of the devotion you 
have always shown me, and the moral support you have always 
given and encouraged. 

. I remain, 

Very truly yours, 

FiTZ John Porter. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



013 702 252 7 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



I II II I III II II I 1 1 II II I 

III III! Illlllllll 1111 III lliiliililiillilillllill 

013 702 252 7 



Denmalitefl 



